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Some 60% of consumers admit to “showrooming,” the practice of shopping retail stores with the intent to make their purchase from another outlet—usually online—at a more competitive price. Only 10% of those online purchases are made through the original retail outlet that was “showroomed.” The manufacturer of the Fretlight Guitar is helping independent music dealers fight this trend. Optek Music Systems is offering a simple, no-cost solution that treats each store as a marketing partner, rewarding the dealer for any online purchase of a Fretlight Guitar made within a 25-mile radius of the store. The concept was created to deal with the reality of today’s retail environment.

Fretlight Guitars are acoustic and electric guitars with a twist: LED lights are embedded in the fretboard to light up chords, scales, songs and riffs, showing players where to place their fingers and, thus, transforming the experience of learning to play. The new Fretlight Showrooms provide customers the opportunity to check out Fretlight Guitars firsthand.

“We recognized the challenges facing independent music stores today,” said Rusty Shaffer, the Fretlight Guitar’s inventor. “Our Showroom program recognizes cash is tight, so our partners only invest in inventory after they’ve seen success and are eligible to become Super Showrooms. On top of that, we’re sharing profits when ‘showrooming’ happens, even if the retailer never talks to the customer. Our Showroom concept is a true partnership that puts money in their pockets at zero cost.”

The Fretlight Showroom point-of-purchase display consists of a Fretlight Guitar with body decal and a 6’6” promotional banner. To illustrate Fretlight technology, LEDs on the guitar are constantly lighting, and both the banner and decal feature QR codes that enable the shopper to view a Fretlight video demonstration and get detailed information about the guitar and learning system.
If a consumer does “showroom” the retailer and purchase from the company’s Web site, Fretlight will send an incentive payment directly to the authorized Showroom for any Fretlight sale within a 25-mile radius of that store, even if there is no dialogue between the customer and showroom staff. Fretlight Showrooms have the option to engage customers on the retail floor and take orders directly for an additional incentive payment and to support consumers locally.

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